Five (Four) Senses of Reynolda Hall Lobby

For the last blog post before finals, I bring you the Five Senses of the lobby in Reynolda Hall, circa 2 pm yesterday. I was perched on one of the lobby couches right outside the Office of Academic Advising. I had a clear shot to my right of the doors leading out onto the Quad, and a clear shot on my left to the Green Room and the doors leading back to the Mag Patio. While this is not a picture I took yesterday (it’s a stock photo from our archive), this will give you a little sense of the place.

I see….

– Two female students camped at a couch and a table and chairs, respecitively. Other than those two ladies, I am the only other person sitting here.

– The one at the table has a laptop open and is eating a Subway lunch as she works. The one on the couch has her back to me so I can’t see what she is doing, but she seems to be doing a lot of stretching and yawning, so I am going to assume she is tired.

– A dean come through the front door from the Quad. A few minutes later, I see a University Police officer do the same.

– People typically taking off their winter coats as they enter warm Reynolda from the cold Quad.

– The Christmas tree and the menorah through the windows of the door going to the Quad.

– Students come and go – very scattered, not too many. The female students are almost always wearing boots. Not just equestrian tall boots anymore, either – now there are ankle boots with heels (traditional or wedge).

– One male student comes in with no jacket. This is surprising to me, as it is cold. Most of the students coming through have a jacket, or a hoodie, or at least a sweater and scarf. Not this guy. T-shirt with a button down shirt over it (unbuttoned). I have to believe he is cold, but he isn’t acting like he is.

– FINALLY I see a girl wearing Not Boots. Plain flats. For a couple of minutes I amuse myself by taking a boots vs Not Boots poll, and see that in the short time I was watching, six female students were in boots, three in Not Boots.

– A pretty female student carrying flowers. She passes me and heads away. About five minutes later, she returns sans flowers, so she has delivered them to someone in Reynolda.

– A very tall male student carrying what looks like the leftover wrappings of a 12″ Subway lunch. Something about his face and easy smile makes me think he is very polite. He just has a very kind bearing.

I hear…

– Distorted voices that come from people talking in a building with high ceilings and staircases. You can hear that people are talking, but it sounds garbled until they get close to me.

– A very purposeful STOMP STOMP STOMP STOMP of boots on a girl who comes in the door and is walking at a brisk clip.

– Squeaky shoes on one staff member. His gait is a lot slower than the typical pace of footsteps I am hearing.

– The ding of the elevator bell as it arrives on the 1st floor.

– A few “hi, how are you?”s as students pass each other and are greeting friends.

– But largely what strikes me is how very, very, very quiet it is. Normally at this hour there should be a lot of people entering and exiting, chatting as they go. It’s extremely quiet. So much so that I can hear the clicking of the doors as they latch closed. I can even hear the flush of a toilet in the women’s bathroom, which is around the corner and down the hall from where I am. This is strange.

– “When do you go home?” said one student to another as they passed me. “Tuesday” was the reply.

– A conversation between one of our professional academic advisers and a student he is meeting with – they are walking back to the Academic Advising office.

– Jingling keys in someone’s hand as they walk by.

– The extended BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP of an elevator door that’s been held open too long and is trying to force close.

– A horrific sounding cough coming from the Green Room. The cougher comes out later, it’s a girl.

I feel…

– Cold breeze rush in as the door opens.

– Comfortable cushions on the sofa I am sitting on in the lobby. This is the kind where you sit down and it’s squishy and you sink in a bit. Would be an excellent napping couch if you weren’t self-conscious about sleeping in the entryway of an oft-used building.

I smell…

– Cold air. It doesn’t smell cold enough for snow, but it has that cold, slightly-humid air smell to it.

– An occasional waft of food smell from the Pit below, but I can’t put my finger on what the smell is. It just sort of has a cafeteria smell.

No tasting today – sorry!

Have a good weekend, Deac families. Call your kids, wish them luck on finals and tell them not to be too hard on themselves while prepping for them.

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The Office of Family Engagement provides information and support to Wake Forest parents, guardians, grandparents, and family members. The office maintains the Family Engagement Page of the Wake Forest website, which is the primary vehicle of communication with families, as well as our Facebook and Twitter presence.